Couscous review

“I’ve done nothing and I’ve left nothing,” laments divorced paterfamilias Slimane (Habib Boufares) when he’s made redundant from his shipyard job. With his severance pay he opens a fish and couscous restaurant, roping in his ex-wife (Bouraouia Marzouk) and offspring to help – a decision that miffs new lover Latifa (Hatika Karaoui). Don’t be put off by the lengthy running time of this finely acted ensembler. Filming with handheld immediacy, writer/director Abdellatif Kechiche forgoes a simple triumph-against-the-odds throughline and hews a sprawling portrait of an extended immigrant family with credibly flawed characters.